Financial Support after a Serious Diagnosis
Critical Illness Cover Advice for Your Circumstances
Critical illness cover is designed to pay a benefit if you are diagnosed with a specified illness or suffer an injury that meets the policy definition. It can provide financial breathing room at a time when health, work and household plans may all be affected.
Anderson Mortgages can help you understand what the cover does, compare suitable options and build it into a wider protection plan.
Cover with Defined Conditions
What Does Critical Illness Cover Do?
Most critical illness policies are designed to pay a one-off lump sum after a valid claim. The money is not normally restricted to one purpose. Depending on your circumstances, it could help reduce a mortgage or other commitments, meet household costs, fund changes to your home or provide time to adjust your work and family arrangements.
The policy does not cover every illness. It only responds to the conditions and events listed in the policy, and the diagnosis must meet the insurer's definition and required severity. The conditions, definitions, exclusions and additional benefits can differ between insurers.
That makes the wording of the policy important. A useful comparison looks beyond the number of conditions listed and considers how the cover works in practice for the person being insured.
A Personal Recommendation
What Should Be Considered before Choosing Cover?
The Financial Effect of Illness
Think about the mortgage, regular bills, childcare, travel, adaptations and the effect that time away from work could have.
Existing Cover and Savings
Employer sick pay, workplace benefits, personal policies and accessible savings may already provide part of the support you need.
The Amount of Cover
The benefit should relate to the financial need you want to address and a monthly premium that remains affordable.
Policy Definitions
Different insurers can define the same condition differently. The required diagnosis and severity must be understood before you proceed.
Adult and Children's Cover
Some policies include or offer cover for children, but the conditions, limits and payment structure vary between products.
Combined or Separate Policies
Critical illness cover may be arranged alongside life cover or separately. The consequences of a claim and the continuing cover should be compared.
Important to Understand
A Named Illness Is Not Automatically a Valid Claim
Seeing an illness listed in a policy does not mean every diagnosis of that illness will qualify. Policies use detailed definitions, and some conditions must reach a specified severity or meet particular clinical criteria.
Some policies also include partial or additional payments for certain less severe conditions, while others do not. Children's benefits can have separate definitions and limits. Your adviser will explain the relevant policy features and draw attention to important exclusions, but the insurer assesses any future claim against the policy terms.
Full and accurate answers to the insurer's questions are essential when applying. Missing or incorrect information can affect the terms offered and may affect a later claim.
How It Fits with Other Protection
Critical Illness, Life Cover and Income Protection
These policies address different events. Life cover normally pays following death. Critical illness cover responds to specified diagnoses that meet the policy definition. Income protection is designed to provide a regular payment when illness or injury prevents work, subject to the policy's incapacity definition and waiting period.
Critical illness cover is commonly considered with life cover, but combining them is not automatically the right answer. A combined policy may end after one qualifying claim, depending on its terms. Separate arrangements may offer different benefits at a different cost. Your adviser will help you compare the practical effect of the available structures.
Advice and Ongoing Review
Building Cover around Real Priorities
Your adviser will begin with the financial risks you want to address, review existing arrangements and discuss the amount and term of cover that may be appropriate. Suitable available policies are then assessed for their definitions, exclusions, additional benefits and cost.
Protection needs can change after a move, a new mortgage, a change of job or an addition to the family. Reviewing the cover after significant changes helps keep its purpose and amount aligned with your circumstances.
Critical Illness Cover Questions
Frequently Asked Questions
Customer Reviews
What Our Customers Say
Understand Your Options
Discuss Critical Illness Cover
Tell us briefly what you would like to protect and an adviser will contact you personally. Please do not enter diagnoses, medical history or other sensitive information in the public form.
As with all insurance policies, conditions and exclusions will apply.